In the Highways and Hedges: Library Support for OER Adoption Efforts at Higher Education Institutions Across Virginia

Abstract

A growing number of Virginia higher education libraries are involved in supporting and leading Open Educational Resource (OER) adoption efforts. Statewide, OER initiatives include a unique blend of administrative and grassroots organizations and individuals that work hand in hand to leverage the economic benefits and educational advantages of open educational resources. This article highlights library engagement and leadership, successes and growing pains, on the many levels of OER efforts in Virginia Higher Education. Introduction: Knowledge Does Not Diminish When It Is Shared Open educational resources (OER) are: Teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, n.d.) The 2015 NMC Horizon Report designated the proliferation of open educational resources as a midterm trend, “driving EdTech adoption in higher education for three to five years” with real potential for removing cost barriers to education (p. 14, Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2015). The OER trend is local, national, and global. It speaks to many audiences, including libraries. Values of the Open Education movement match with nearly all of the ALA’s Core Values of Librarianship: access, democracy, education and lifelong learning, intellectual freedom, preservation, the public good, service, and social responsibility (American Library Association, 2004). Perhaps this kinship is part of the reason why so many libraries and librarians find an affinity with open education initiatives as we continue to evolve with learner and faculty needs, and embrace the opportunities afforded by emerging technologies. Librarians have existing expertise in copyright, licensing, finding, and evaluating information, instruction, faculty development, building relationships, and managing projects. This makes us a natural fit to support and lead our communities in areas of open licensing, evaluating, maintaining and providing access to curated open materials, and open publishing as a number of libraries are moving in this direction. It’s up to us to lead as we are able. Open Education in Virginia, a Rapidly Changing Environment Virginia open education initiatives in higher education have grown from individual and informal initiatives and gatherings to institutional and multi‐institution initiatives, and state‐level engagement among individuals, professional association, consortia, and government bodies. Four notable early initiatives include: Virginia State University’s School of Business core curriculum conversion, Tidewater Community College’s (TCC) “Z” Degree, Northern Virginia Copyright of this contribution remains in the name of the author(s). http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284316313 531 Charleston Conference Proceedings 2015 Community College’s (NOVA) Kaleidoscope project, and OpenVA: Virginia’s Summit on Open and Digital Learning. In 2010 the School of Business at Virginia State University adopted openly licensed textbooks for nine of its courses (Feldstein et al., 2012). TCC’s “Z” degree followed as the first in the country to pilot an entire associate degree (AS in Business Administration) in 2013, resulting in reduced costs and statistically significant improvements in student retention and achievement (“Z‐degree,” n.d.). OpenVA, a loosely organized group of Virginia Higher Education faculty, educational technologists, and administrators organized statewide meetings in 2013 and 2014 with smaller regional events in 2015 (“OpenVA,” n.d.). Also in 2014, NOVA piloted Kaleidoscope, a project supported by EDUCAUSE Next Generation Learning Challenges and Gates Foundation, with the goal of assisting faculty in using open educational resources (Northern Virginia Community College, 2014). In 2015, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) launched the Zx23 Project to build on Tidewater’s success and prior Chancellor‐funded projects and replicate the Z‐Degree across the 23 Virginia Community Colleges (“Zx23 application,” n.d.). Zx23 is packaging OER to establish new degree pathways to existing credentials without traditional textbook cost, and a primary goal of the project is to establish a model for sustaining and supporting the OER infrastructure for degree programs. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has also played a role in facilitating exploration of open education by co‐sponsoring OpenVA, creating and sustaining the Library Advisory Committee (LAC) since the 1970s, and in May 2015 creating the Open Virginia Advisory Committee (OVAC) in support of SCHEV’s Statewide Strategic Plan for Higher Education. OVAC representation includes public, private, two‐ and four‐year institution representation as well as representatives from the LAC and was established to: 1. Make recommendations to Council regarding initiatives and policies that may facilitate OER adoption. 2. Organize events to facilitate inter‐ institutional networking and the sharing of best practices and expertise on issues related to instructional technology and affordable educational resources. OVAC’s current tasks are to conduct an environmental scan to determine the current status of OER/openness at Virginia’s higher education institutions, and to develop an outreach plan. The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) a consortium of 70+ nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia, conducted an OER activities survey of member libraries through its Resource Sharing Committee (RSC) in May 2015. Thirty five of 70+ VIVA member libraries responded. Twenty‐seven indicated that their institution is currently exploring or using OER. Twenty‐one respondents indicated that the library is somewhat or very involved in these efforts. Twenty‐seven thought libraries should play a role in OER, and five said maybe—this group was currently not involved. Fifteen respondents thought VIVA should play a role in OER in Virginia, fifteen others said maybe, and two said no. A commissioned task force offered the following recommendations (Virtual Library of Virginia, 2015):  Educate VIVA members regarding OER and on how some institutions are leveraging OER by promoting current VIVA member OER/affordability efforts. Highlight similar work at other consortia.  Connect with other state‐level groups that are active in this area (SCHEV’s OVAC, Virginia 21, and others) to identify potential areas for collaboration  Leverage VIVA content evaluation expertise to evaluate OER. Highlight only high quality OER in a guide to OER + VIVA‐ provided resources specifically for teaching and learning.  Lead by example: Apply open licenses to VIVA web pages and created resources  Showcase member‐created openly licensed learning resources; provide a